Fun Mount Rushmore Facts

If you’re planning on visiting Mount Rushmore soon, take a look at this list of fun facts for your trip!

The sculptures of the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt measure 60-foot (18 m). Each President’s head is as tall as a six-story building.

The heads of the Presidents were sculpted by Gutzon Borglum and later by his son Lincoln Borglum together with 400 workers.

The idea for a Black Hills’ sculpture came from South Dakota State Historian, Doane Robinson. Mount Rushmore represents major symbols associated with the four presidents and the history of the United States:

George Washington represents the struggle for independence

Thomas Jefferson represents the idea of government by the people

Abraham Lincoln for his ideas on equality and the permanent union of the states

Theodore Roosevelt for the role of the United States in world affairs

The Mount Rushmore project cost $989,992.32.

Mount Rushmore is largely composed of granite which is durable rock and erodes only 1 inch (25 mm) every 10,000 years.

Borglum was 60 years old when he began working on the Mount Rushmore monument.